Lord of Hell (Alex Holden) (7 page)

At the end of the block, she hit a busy intersection and went straight through traffic. I slowed just a little, thinking about how fun hitting the wall had been. My nose still hurt, but the pain had already faded to a dull ache. I didn’t try to go through the cars, but I jumped, aiming for a black car in the middle lane. The intersection had three lanes, all one-way, and I wasn’t sure I could jump all the way across. I made it onto the roof of the black car, just barely, then hopped off to continue the pursuit.

Naamah glanced back. The distraction caused her to bump into a pedestrian. The woman exclaimed and looked around. It gave me a gap to charge through. A few feet from the end of the block, I reached out and grabbed Naamah’s arm.

“No!” She tried to yank free.

I gripped her harder and took her to Hell. I didn’t want to risk her getting away again.

“Let me go!” she screamed as we arrived in the throne room. She spun and raked her claws down my arm.

I hissed at the pain and let her go. “Do you want to fight, Naamah? Did you see what I did to Beelzebub?” I drew my sword.

The demon cringed and shook her head. “I’m sorry, my lord.”

“Are you? Why did you leave? I told everyone the mortal world was off-limits.” I moved toward her as she took slow steps back. I was sort of hoping for a fight.

“I am a demon of seduction. I need mortals to lure into sin.”

“That was before I took over. Things are different now.” I reached out my free hand and used my power to yank her toward me. I gripped her arm and put Animus under her chin. “If I let you go, you’ll try to escape again.”

Her green-yellow eyes went wide with fear. “No, I swear. Don’t kill me.”

“You swear? Why should I trust a promise from a demon?” The blade just barely touched her blue skin.

“Please. Please don’t kill me.”

I needed to make an example of her. I needed to make sure she couldn’t escape again and torment humans. But I didn’t want to kill someone, even a demon, who wasn’t fighting back. Who was begging for her life.

“Kill her!” the demons lurking near the columns shouted. “Make her bleed! Tear her apart!”

Semiazas approached slowly and stopped a few feet away. “Why are you hesitating?”

“You’re all so fucking bloodthirsty.” I looked into the demon’s pleading eyes. Animus sang for the demon’s blood.
You, too?
I thought.

“Please.” Naamah trembled. “I will do anything. I swear I won’t go back to the human realm.”

I imagined letting her go, how she’d thank me and then laugh maniacally at what a sucker I was. Demons are liars and connivers. That’s what they do.

But what if she was telling the truth? What if she was really afraid?

What about all the people she’d led to sin? People who were down here suffering right now because she’d whispered in their ears.

I yelled, the wordless sound of frustration echoing off the walls. I shoved Naamah away and pointed Animus at her. “If you go to Earth again, so help me I will find you again, and I’ll kill you.”

The demons kept calling for her death while a few of them grumbled.

Naamah stared as if she couldn’t believe it. “You’re letting me go?”

“Yes. Now get out of my sight.”

“Thank you, my lord. Thank you.”

“And put some fucking clothes on.”

“Yes, my lord.” She hurried past the crowd of demons and into the shadows behind the columns.

The demons complained, saying I should have killed her, should have at least punished her, beaten her for disobedience.

“Shut up!” I roared, causing them to cringe. “Get out, all of you.” I glared and they scrambled into the darkness.

I needed to go home, spend some time with Hayley and maybe Casey and my other friends. I sheathed Animus and noticed Semiazas was still standing there. “I told you to leave.”

“Why did you let her go, my lord?” He didn’t look angry or frustrated like the other demons. He looked genuinely curious.

“I couldn’t kill her when she was pleading for her life.” I glanced at my arm where she’d scratched me. There was no sign of a wound. I felt tacky blood in my nostrils and on my upper lip, but my nose didn’t hurt anymore.

“Then why not beat her to teach her a lesson?”

“The way my father used to beat me? Yeah, that taught me to be obedient, didn’t it?” I glared at him. “Are you disappointed you didn’t get a show?”

“I
did
get a show. We all did. You showed mercy to a demon. Even Jehovah wouldn’t do that.”

I snorted. “That guy is a jackass.”

“You are so like your father, and yet so unlike him.”

“I guess I’ll take that as a compliment rather than punch you in the face for comparing me to Satan.” I still wasn’t sure I could trust this guy. He seemed so different from the others, but maybe he was just craftier than them.

“Send Ernaz if anyone else tries to escape,” I said. “I’m going home.”

***

I had dinner with Hayley and Casey and their parents. I needed to do something human after spending so much time in Hell. I didn’t want to forget what it was like in the mortal world or leave behind the normal life I’d fought so hard to get. Only a week and half after I’d taken over and I could already feel my life here slipping away. I told myself it would get better when school started again.

Then I wondered if I’d be able to go to school at all. How was I supposed to go to class when demons might be escaping Hell and sowing evil when I wasn’t looking? Could I find someone to take over when I wasn’t there? Maybe Semiazas? Or was that what he wanted, to get on my good side so he could get more power, maybe try to overthrow me?

Ruling Hell sucked.

I’d sort of wormed my way into this dinner at the last minute, so I hadn’t had time to talk to Hayley or Casey about my day. Their parents had no clue what I was and we wanted to keep it that way. Hayley and Casey kept giving me looks while we ate, dying to hear the latest news. I’d told Hayley about the earthquake and how I was building a paradise in Hell and she probably told Casey. They didn’t know anything else was wrong, but they’d probably guessed something was up when I didn’t answer my phone all day and then begged to come over for dinner.

“So how was your day, Alex?” their mom asked.

“Fine. Wasted it watching TV and playing video games.” I smiled, hoping it wasn’t too fake. “Thanks again for letting me come to dinner. I eat way too much fast food and microwave stuff. This is really good.” I pointed at the chicken and mashed potatoes.

Their dad laughed. “Most of that came out of a box.” The whole family helped with dinner, sometimes taking turns. Today had been his turn to cook, so he was pointing out his own shortcuts.

“Still better than a frozen dinner,” I said. “And it’s nice to eat with a family.” I looked down, realizing how cheesy that sounded, but it was true. My mom and stepdad had pretended to have “traditional” family meals, but they had been like some attempt to reenact a fifties TV family. While the food was usually okay, even good sometimes, sitting with them was like a punishment.

I didn’t have a family anymore. I’d killed them all.

Hayley took my hand and squeezed it. “You’re such a sap.”

While I knew her family was on their best behavior because I was there, this was real. They all loved each other. They still argued and got mad at each other, but they all really loved each other. Hayley and Casey didn’t fight like typical siblings. They got along much better than the stereotypical sister and brother. They even shared the same group of friends at school. The same friends I had.

“It’s sappy but it’s true. I wish my family had been like yours.” I tried not to dwell on it as much as I used to. I wished I’d had a happy childhood with normal parents. I wished my father wasn’t Satan. I wished I was just a normal human. But I wasn’t, and nothing was going to change that. I couldn’t change my past and I had to stop wishing I could. I wanted to focus on what my life
could
be. Sure, I was stuck with my father’s job, but I was changing Hell.

After dinner, I went up to Casey’s room with him and Hayley and shut the door. Their parents were okay with it since Casey was there, so there were no worries about Hayley and me fooling around. I wondered if they had any idea we had sex at my apartment.

“So what’s going on?” Hayley asked, sitting on the side of the bed.

I sat next to her. “Where should I start? My cult is okay, the city is recovering, Elliot helped me make the paradise fucking beautiful. I think I’m going to name it the Eternal Gardens. Oh, yeah, and a demon escaped Hell, tried to go tempt people, and I took her back and instead of punishing her, I let her go.”

“Uhh… slow down there,” Casey said. “A little more detail, please.”

I told them about Naamah’s escape and what had happened when I took her back. I tried to explain the thoughts and emotions going through me when I had Animus against her neck and the demons were calling for me to kill her. Why I’d let her go.

“I don’t have any problem killing. I killed my parents, and they weren’t fighting back. I killed all those Satanists, and some of them begged for their lives. I’m not sure why it was different with Naamah, but it was.”

“Well, your parents… that was personal,” Hayley said.

“And the Satanists killed cats for your birthday,” Casey said. I’d told him about that a month or so ago because it was easier to be completely honest with both of them than to have Hayley know everything and have to watch what I said around Casey. He’d taken the information surprisingly well.

“True, but I know Naamah hurts people. She tempts them to sin. She’s a demon of seduction, so that could mean a lot. Leading people to have sex before marriage, eh, whatever. But cheating on their spouses, that hurts people, breaks up families. Or what if she tempts people to rape?” I rubbed my head. “Ugh. I should probably just kill them all. They’re all terrible. Demons of lust, hate, greed. How much suffering have they spread? How many people get hurt because of their influence?”

Hayley shrugged. “That’s an option, I guess. But if you have them locked up in Hell, they can’t hurt anyone, can they?”

“But spreading evil is what they
do
. What if they keep trying to escape? I don’t want to be a jailer for demons.” I saw the years and years stretched out in front of me, constantly having to watch out for demons escaping to the human realm. Going to catch them, making threats. And having to follow through on those threats when they didn’t listen to me the first time.

“Demons used to be angels, right?” Casey said. “Is that story true?”

“Yeah, it’s true.” Satan had told me as much. He’d rebelled against God because he thought he deserved the throne, and he was jealous of the attention humans were getting. He’d thought humans should be toys and servants for the angels, not special pets for Jehovah.

“So maybe they still have good in them?” Casey said.

I shook my head. “They hate humans. That’s why they tempt them to sin. They love spreading suffering in the world and then getting to play with the souls of sinners in Hell.” Some of them were fucking gleeful about it, laughing and grinning while they skinned or burned or tore apart souls over and over. I’d assigned the happiest ones to the people who raped and murdered children, and the mass murderers.

“Maybe they can’t help what they are,” Hayley said.

“That’s not an excuse.” Hell had thousands of demons. Could I slaughter them all to make sure they didn’t hurt anyone again, or to punish them for the evil they spread in the world? Or would I have to live for the rest of eternity ruling over beings that despised humans? Fuck, that was depressing. Then I thought of Semiazas. If he was telling the truth, he didn’t hate humanity. Maybe there were others like him.

“Do you think they could ever change?” Casey asked, as if voicing my thoughts.

“I don’t know. I guess for now I just make sure they can’t cause any more harm. If anyone else escapes, I don’t know if I can be as merciful as I was with Naamah.” I couldn’t keep letting them off with a warning, or everyone would try it at least once to see how long they could get away with it.

I sighed. “All right, time to talk about something else.” I’d come here to get away from my responsibilities, not dwell on them.

Chapter 9

I went down to Hell the next day and stopped in the Eternal Gardens first. The souls of the dead were smiling, laughing, napping on blankets in the grass, walking hand in hand with loved ones on the paths through bright flowers. Everywhere I went, they gathered around to thank me. It made me forget my problems for a while. I made a few improvements while I was there, making a small town for those who wanted to relive the simpler days of their lives or who had always dreamed of such a life. It had a Main Street and everything. I also created a few farms, a ranch, and an ocean for those who loved the beach and the sea.

Time passed differently there, like in stories about the fae. Hours there were only minutes in mortal time, or a few days could be years. I realized time in Hell was slower in general, although it was difficult to pin down the exact difference. My phone kept track of mortal time, so it seemed like it was broken when I was down there. And there weren’t any clocks around for me to figure out local time. It was all perception, and every minute in Hell seemed like a long time.

After what felt like hours, pleasant hours, I left the Eternal Gardens and went to my throne room. It looked more like a room in a castle now, to match the rest of the building. The columns lining the walls were still there, but they were gray stone instead of white marble. The whole room was half the size it used to be. Bright banners depicting animals hung between each of the columns to lend color. Torches and candles gave the place light, and I cheated with the design and added electric chandeliers because without them it was too gloomy. The effect, to me, made the place warmer, if not exactly friendly.

I barely had a chance to sit down before Astaroth appeared and gave me a low bow. “My lord, many of us are wondering why you let Naamah go. There are grumblings that you are too weak to hold the throne and some demons talk of challenging you.”